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Friday, February 19, 2016

Stouts & Oysters & Barleywine

Posted by
Jay Aber

Seems like it's that time of the year to drink a bunch of big ass beers and eat oysters. While I can whole-heartedly support drinking the big ass beers, I can't personally recommend oysters. The only times I've had them, it was kind of like eating gelatinous gym socks. So based on my experience, I can't really see why you'd go out of your way to eat them, but it sure seems like a whole lot of people think they're the greatest food on Earth. So, being the equal opportunity man that I am, I'm going to throw the oyster fests out to you along with the other great events coming up in KC soon!

(And, as usual, I'll mention that there's a whole bunch of other beer events besides these going on in KC that you can find over on our calendar page!)

Big Ass Stout Day @ the Foundry - Saturday 2/20

The Foundry is putting on their famous Big Ass Stout Day once again this weekend. The festivities go from noon tomorrow until close (or they run out, I suppose--probably best to get there early just in anyway). They're tapping 14 imperial stouts, the list of which will start your mouth watering right now. Full pours and 6oz pours will be available with a limit of ordering two at a time to give everyone an equal shot at the brews. So, start making your strategy now! They're also raffling off the opportunity to buy two bottles of Bourbon Co Rare at 3pm. All the details on their facebook page!

Barley Wine Week @ Flying Saucer - Sunday-Friday 2/21-2/26

Flying Saucer is hosting another one of their style-focused weeks, and, appropriate for the weather or not (who the hell knows, it might snow next week), the beer they're serving is always appropriate. They've got all the details of each nights events on their calendar, but rest assured that you'll pretty much be able to get some rare/awesome barley wines no matter what night you walk into the Saucer next week. Highlights include 2014 Sucaba & Helldorado on Monday, and 2014 Old Curmudgeon & Backwoods Bastard on Tuesday.

In addition to their regular nightly lineups, they're putting on an beer dinner with Urban Chestnut on Sunday starting at 6pm. The menu sounds pretty ridiculous, so I'm just going to post the whole damn thing here. I mean, wild boar! Tickets are $65 ($55 for members). Call the Saucer for more info: (816) 221-1900

Cinder Block Oysters - Wednesday 2/24 & Saturday 2/27

So with my caveat above, these events are no doubt going to be awesome if you actually like oysters. The first is here in town at Jax Fish House. They collaborated with Cinder Block to produce (as far as I know), Kansas City's first Oyster Stout. If you've never tried oyster stout, you're not alone. I haven't either. But apparently it's a thing, and getting more and more popular all the time. Seeing how I like other seemingly terrible flavors in my beer (mmmm...horse blanket...), maybe oyster gym socks is the perfect marriage with stout. I'll withhold my judgment till I try it though.

Anyways. Jax Fish House is hosting an oyster eating competition on Saturday 2/27. The grand prize is $1,000 and proceeds will benefit the Midwest Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. They'll of course have Cinder Block's Oyster Stout on hand for the event as well.

In addition to this, Cinder Block is having a stout party featuring the Oyster Stout among other awesome stouts on Wednesday 2/24. In addition to the oyster stout, they'll have 2013 Bourbon Barrel-Aged Squirrel, the 2014 Bourbon Barrel-Aged Squirrel and the un-oaked never before tapped, 2015 Black Squirrel. The beer's being tapped at 4pm! Be there!

Schlafly Oysters - Friday 3/4 & Saturday 3/5

Schlafly's Annual Stout & Oyster Festival is also coming up soon. The event is on Friday, March 4 (5 p.m. to midnight) and Saturday, March 5 (11 a.m. to midnight), at the Schlafly Tap Room (2100 Locust St. at 21st). Yes, this is the KC Beer Blog, but hey, Schlafly's cool and if you're into oysters & stouts, I'm sure you can make the drive to St. Louis! The festival is free to enter (although you will pay for the oysters by the shell (only about $2/oyster) and beers by the pint. They're partnering with Southwest Airline Cargo to fly in 60,000 fresh oysters, with six different kinds from both the east and west coasts.

Schlafly will also have all of their 10 stouts available a the fest. This includes their standbys like their Oatmeal Stout, Coffee Stout, & Irish-Style Extra Stout, and also their very own Oyster Stout. There's also going to be bands on throughout the day and an oyster shucking competition. They even put together a nifty video about the fest, in case you were wondering what the fest looks like (and also how great Southwest Airlines Cargo is, apparently!).